Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
“Michael” Sets All-Time Music Biopic Record With $97 Million Debut
Lionsgate’s Michael, the long-awaited biographical film about the King of Pop directed by Antoine Fuqua, shattered box office records with a $97.2 million domestic opening weekend and $218.8 million globally — the biggest launch in history for a music biopic. The result obliterates the previous record held by Universal’s Straight Outta Compton ($60.2 million) and ranks as Lionsgate’s best post-Covid opening, surpassing John Wick: Chapter 4’s $73.8 million debut. The film, starring Jaafar Jackson as his uncle Michael Jackson, carries a production budget near $200 million and opened on 3,955 screens nationwide despite mixed critical reviews.
Sources: Variety
Lionsgate’s Viral “Moonwalk” Strategy Fueled “Michael” Past Bad Reviews to Record Opening
Lionsgate’s marketing operation behind Michael relied on a multi-pronged social strategy to overcome mixed reviews and deliver a record-breaking opening. Flash mob activations branded “Don’t Walk, Moonwalk” transformed intersections in 20 global markets, generating 23.4 million views domestically, while an unprecedented HBCU marching band initiative yielded 8.4 million additional cross-platform views. A Complex pop-up gallery in New York City and the Berlin global premiere — drawing 300 creators to reach an audience of over 500 million — ensured the campaign permeated culture at every level, ultimately pushing the film past audience ambivalence and into box office history.
Sources: Variety
“Coyote vs. Acme” Trailer Sets Indie Studio Record With 25.6 Million Views
Ketchup Entertainment’s long-delayed Coyote vs. Acme, the live-action/animation hybrid rescued from studio shelving, clocked 25.6 million trailer views within 24 hours of its April drop — an indie record that surpasses Angel Studios’ previous benchmark. Directed by Dave Green and starring Will Forte as Wile E. Coyote’s crusading attorney, the film sets its theatrical debut for August 28. Warner Bros. originally shelved the project as a tax write-off before selling it to Ketchup, and the marketing leans into that backstory with the tagline “The Film Acme Didn’t Want You to See” — a move that appears to be resonating strongly online.
Sources: Deadline
“Project Hail Mary” Rockets Past $600M Global, Becomes Amazon MGM’s Highest-Grossing Film
Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary, the Ryan Gosling-led science-fiction epic directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, crossed $600 million globally in its sixth weekend of theatrical release — eclipsing every previous release in the studio’s history. Domestically, the $200 million-budgeted film earned an additional $13.2 million this weekend from 3,510 theaters, bringing its North American cumulative to $305 million. Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian called the campaign “a textbook example” of how a legacy studio and modern streamer can work as complementary forces, crediting Ryan Gosling’s hands-on marketing involvement as pivotal to the film’s sustained performance.
Sources: Variety
Indie Openers Struggle in “Michael”’s Shadow on Crowded April 24 Weekend
Three specialty releases launched on a weekend dominated by Michael’s record debut, with mixed results for each distributor. Roadside Attractions’ London-set action thriller Fuze — directed by David Mackenzie and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson — drew $1.01 million from 1,164 theaters, marking Roadside’s seventh-largest launch ever. Vertical Entertainment’s Anthony Mackie epic Desert Warrior opened to $472,000 on 1,010 screens, while Sony Pictures Classics’ coming-of-age documentary I Swear earned $640,000 from 645 locations. All three struggled under the shadow of the weekend’s massive headliner, illustrating the perennial challenge of opening specialty titles against a dominant blockbuster event.
Sources: Deadline
Box Office — Currently in Theatres
| # | Title | Release Date | Weekend | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael | Apr 24 | $97.2M | $97.2M |
| 2 | The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Apr 1 | $20.5M | $386.0M |
| 3 | Project Hail Mary | Mar 13 | $13.2M | $305.0M |
| 4 | Lee Cronin’s The Mummy | Apr 17 | $5.6M | $23.5M |
| 5 | The Drama | Mar 27 | $2.6M | $44.8M |
| 6 | Hoppers | Mar 6 | $1.9M | $164.1M |
| 7 | You, Me & Tuscany | Apr 10 | $1.5M | $17.6M |
| 8 | Over Your Dead Body | Apr 24 | $1.3M | $1.3M |
| 9 | Mother Mary | Apr 17 | $1.25M | $1.5M |
| 10 | American YoungBoy | Apr 24 | $1.19M | $1.84M |
| 11 | Fuze | Apr 24 | $1.01M | $1.01M |
| 12 | A Great Awakening | Apr 3 | $0.75M | $7.5M |
| 13 | I Swear | Apr 24 | $0.64M | $0.64M |
| 14 | Desert Warrior | Apr 24 | $0.47M | $0.47M |
| 15 | Scream 7 | Feb 27 | $0.32M | $133.0M |
| 16 | Reminders of Him | Mar 6 | $0.24M | $46.0M |
| 17 | Wuthering Heights | Feb 6 | $0.17M | $55.0M |
| 18 | Faces of Death | Apr 10 | $0.11M | $5.0M |
| 19 | Exit 8 | Apr 10 | $0.08M | $3.5M |
| 20 | Hamnet | Jan 9 | $0.06M | $27.0M |
Source: Box Office Mojo · Weekend estimates · Positions 12–20 partially estimated from incomplete chart data
Curated by JD · samwise.agency